Interview

The other day, Cadie Thompson from The Daily called and wanted to interview me about the release of the Oklahoma quarter. She found me as an OU alum on Facebook and saw that I collected coins. You can go to the article here.

Snowman!

Audrey made this great snowman after she got home from school (after she pelted me with snowballs!). This is only her second snowman in her whole life and she made this one completely by herself. The last one was in 2002 when we were home on furlough.

Snowing in Wagoner

Snow Picture

Here's what I'm talking about in the post below!

Snow!

It started snowing in earnest at about noon. We have about an inch on the ground now, two hours later. Just since I took this picture, it started snowing even harder!

Crazy Weather

The weather forcast calls for 4-8 inches of snow today. Yesterday, it was clear as a bell. Today, it has been spitting rain/sleet, but as of yet, no snow. There were lots of schools closed this morning north of here. Sally just called and said there was a mix of rain, sleet, and an occasional snowflake on here way back from the doctor's office. (Oh, yes. We have another sick kid. Emily has some sort of crud.)

In any case, since it is currently 36°, I seriously doubt we'll be getting 8 inches of snow. In the words of the Monk theme song, "I could be wrong now; but I don't think so!"

Spring on its way?

As I went outside this morning to go to the office, I saw that some daffodils had begun to make their way out of the soil. Can spring really be on its way?

Great Time at SEC

I had a really great time at the State Evangelism Conference. Here are some pics:


My "cousin-in-law" Danny Cabaniss explaining the virtues of OBU to some prospective students.


Robert & Faye Griffin, friends from Thailand.


A conference speaker at FBC, Moore, OK.


John Strappazon and me. John was a leader in my BSU at OU and is now the State Directer of Baptist Collegiate Ministries.

On Second Thought

On second thought, we might not just be so quick to pay off our credit card. We might just be looking at a trip to Yellowstone in our future. Hmmm. A vacation.... what a concept!

Tax Rebate

According to CBS, we should be getting tax rebate of $1800.00. I guess we'll see it when (if) we actually get it. It will sure help us out; I don't think it will do much for the economy. Ours will go to pay off credit card debts.

Cold Start

It was a pretty cold morning this morning as my indoor/outdoor high/low memory thermometer recorded 8.8° F! (that's -12.9° C for my international readers) Not only the cold, but there was also a 10-15 mph wind that made the wind chill factor a staggering -19° F! Now that's COLD!

I left the heater on in my office so it was a nice warm 65° when I arrived. A smallish front is supposed to make its way through tonight, and we might have a wintry mix by the morning. However, right now, it is clear skies, sunshine and 19°!

Bald Eagles

Every year, Bald Eagles come to Ft. Gibson Dam in January or so and stay a few weeks. I took some pictures of them last Thursday.

Bald Eagle

Last Thursday, I took this short video of some Bald Eagles at Ft. Gibson Dam, Ft. Gibson, OK.

My Meme

My Meme & Me

Big Daddy's girls

Audrey, Dad, Emily

Dad's Birthday

For the first time in 5 years, my family was able to celebrate my dad's birthday with him and the rest of the family, sans Mike. Here is a little self-timer pic that I took of the occasion.

I'm not a hippie (duh)

You Are Definitely Not a Hippie

In fact, you're so conservative, you make George Bush look like Jerry Garcia. You're not big on experimentation or alternative lifestyles. Fringe ideas tend to freak you out. You're pretty suspicious of hippies - or anyone who sympathizes with them. As hippies would say, you are the establishment. You're part of the system... and proud of it.

Are You a Hippie?

Close Call

Last night at 11:52, we had a funnel go over Wagoner. A funnel is different than a tornado. A tornado touches the ground; a funnel extends down from the clouds, but hasn't touched down yet. It was pretty nerve wracking watching the warnings on TV and not knowing whether or not I should wake up the kids and get us all to the hallway.

However, modern meteorological technology is so advanced, I could follow the track of the funnel and see that it was actually 1 1/2 miles to the west of us, on the other side of Hwy 69! So, I let the kids sleep.

Phewwww!

Weather Update III

They are tracking on radar rotation in a cell about 15 miles sw of Wagoner moving this way. They have issued a tornado warning for this rotation, although an actual funnel hasn't been confirmed.

It is really storming right now. The thunder is really something to hear. The TV weather guys keep going on and on about how weird this is for January. They said the last time we had a tornado in January was 1970.

There are currently 10 counties in the viewing area under tornado warnings. This, indeed, is something out of the ordinary.

Current Radar Image

This is the current radar image for 8:40 pm.

Weather Update II

Wagoner County is now under a tornado warning until 9 pm. I think they are tracking rotation that is in the extreme southeastern part of the county. Not too far from where my folks live. It looks like they might be in its path.

There are now 9 counties in KOTV's viewing area under tornado warning. An additional 5 counties are under severe thunderstorm warnings. Yikes.

Weather Update

The National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm warning for Wagoner County. The heavens opened up and we are now in the middle of the storm. It appears that the tornadoes are still going to be going East of us.

Travis Meyer of KOTV 6 in Tulsa indicated that a PDS (Potential for Dangerous Storms) has been issued for NEOK which, at least in his career, hasn't ever been issued in Oklahoma for January. They are calling this a very strange, rare, meteorological event.

Melancholic Day

Today is a hard day. Today is the day that we would have returned to Hong Kong if we had not resigned. It has been hard because we truly loved doing what we were doing. We loved our colleagues; we loved our friends.

We know that we are doing what God wants us to do. We are glad we are here in Wagoner and glad we are at Immanuel. But it is still hard.

Severe Weather

Well, it is almost like springtime in Oklahoma. Temperatures have been in the mid-70's all week. It has been very, very windy, but very very nice.

Tonight, a front is currently moving through. We have been under a tornado watch since early afternoon. There are currently 2 or three tornadoes on the ground right now in counties that surround our county (Wagoner). They are currently showing 6 counties under tornado warnings. All of the local stations have broken into regular programing and are only doing weather reporting right now.

One is on the ground and is moving in a direction that will be only a few miles from where my folks live (and where we stayed when we first came back to the US). For us, however, it appears that it will all go just to the south and east of us. We can see the lightening and hear the thunder, but it look like it won't hit us.

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Yesterday was Dad's birthday. I'm glad that we are home to celebrate it together.

Happy Birthday, Big Daddy. We love you.

What does a pastor do all day?

Many folks wonder about what a pastor does all day long, after all, he only works a couple of hours each week, right? Well, this pastor didn't know that the deacons had installed a camera to see what goes on in a pastor's office.

Can't escape bad Engrish

I would say some non-native English speakers translated the captions for these toys we found right here in Oklahoma. It looks like some of the stuff we saw in China. Click on the pictures to enlarge them.


The "Electric Shooting Box Lucky Star". "It is now time to take actions."


"Soft the Bullet." "Hit the target finally." "Phut, Phut"

Christmas Pictures

Better late than never. Here are some pictures of our first Christmas in Oklahoma in 5 years.


While we were away overseas, a new family tradition took hold. All of the kids who can play an instrument do so in a mini Christmas concert for the family.


Christmas at my grandmother's house.


Christmas morning at home.

Oklahoma 28 - West Virginia 48

I could list a whole bunch of sour grapes, but instead, I say, "Congratulations!" to the Mountaineers for a game very well played. I have never seen a game with so much emotion, so much to prove. I am sorry that it was the Sooners that they unleashed all this pent-up feelings.

At one point, in the fourth quarter, when I realized that we were indeed going to lose, I decided to just watch the game, trying as much as I could to detach myself from my emotions. I was totally amazed at the speed of both their defense and offense. They were amazing. Watching their interim head coach have the excitement of his first bowl win and watching their players become emotional was really something to behold.

I think this is one of those bowl games where OU had NOTHING to gain and everything to lose and that is just what we did: we lost everything. West Virginia had nothing to lose and everything to gain. They wanted it more. I hold no grudges; it was a clean and convincing win.

Boomer Sooner!

Cold Start to a New Year!

Happy New Year! May God richly bless you in 2008! As my nephew said, "Things are great in 2008!"

We had a mighty cold start to the year today, as outside temperature was a frigid 10 degrees F. (That's -12 C for my overseas readers). When I walked outside, my hair which was still wet from my shower, actually froze on top! When I arrived in my office at the church, the thermometer in my office read 39 F.

OK, ok. I know it isn't as cold as Fairbanks or Ulan Bator, but this is Oklahoma for cryin' out loud!

Yesterday was much warmer, but the wind was blowing 30-40 mph and it felt colder than it did this morning where there was no wind.

Well, as Will Rogers once said, "If you don't like the weather in Oklahoma, just wait a minute, and it'll change". It is supposed to be 60 by Saturday!